07/13/2019
I squeezed in a sprint Tri during my annual Wisconsin summer vaca. I wound up 4th OA and got one heck of a workout. Full report here:
They boated us to a beach on the opposite side of this nice little lake (a flotilla of nice volunteer boaters!) which was a first for me. But totally made sense so we didn’t have to swim into the sun! I was thinking, this is SO scenic! Rolling hills, pine trees, such perfect weather and friendly people. The run was to be on gravel roads and grassy trails in the lakeside city park, with ample breeze and partial shade. Certainly if God himself was a triathlete he’d be racing here. But I learned quickly that they race HARD here “way up North!” I hit the swim start aggressively but still wound up back 8-10places. (I bet the pools here are busy in the winter!). The lead swimmers cut the course a bit, and in swimming straight I got kicked and dunked few times and sucked down a bunch of water. (Thankfully it’s nice and clear!). Dealing with my extra “hydration” had me hyperventilating and claustrophobic, so I had to swim slow for a minute or get composure. T1 was good, then settled into 4th on the bike with the guy who eventually won the overall. We were really grinding up the multiple climbs, and on the downhills we FLEW! We almost caught the 2nd place guy, but after a slow T2 both of them were gone quickly! I opted to forgo the racing flats and took the extra time to tie on my regular running shoes due to the rough surface ahead. But I could still see the 3rd place guy most of the run and gained on him a lot during mile 2. Made up a minute or so but would have needed another mile to catch him. Still I pushed hard till the end cause they had 3 waves, so no telling who was close behind. Nice ice water-soaked towel at the finish. Kids race, picnic lunch, lotta back slapping and congrats from the nice Northwoods folks!). I love these people! I’ll look this race up again when planning next year’s trip. Bratwurst and beer anyone?!?
Michael Schaefer